CHARLOTTE, N.C. (WBTV) – Since the Declaration of Independence was signed nearly 250 years ago, maps have played an important role in the development of our country, including here in North Carolina.

But interestingly enough, some of the most important maps in North Carolina weren’t about roads or how to get around.

If you were to visit Chuck Ketchie’s home in Charlotte, you would find it filled with maps…thousands of them.

When asked why he was so fascinated with maps, he said he had to credit his father, who loved history.

Ketchie’s collection includes maps of North Carolina, maps of grist mills, terrain, cities, and towns. He has original maps of just about everything in North Carolina dating back to the 1600s.

“And what they do is they pinpoint the exact location of all the place names in the history of North Carolina,” said Ketchie. “The towns, the communities, post office, churches, cemeteries, mountains, streams, all the place names that have ever been on a map throughout North Carolina history, going back 17 hundred years, are now put on a scaled county map.”

Maps have changed considerably over time. They’re much more detailed now thanks to technology and updated mapping systems. Compare that to the 1700s when the Battle of Kings Mountain was fought. The battle helped turn the tide of the Revolutionary War.

But the map that was used by both sides in the conflict was not as detailed as you might expect, according to Ketchie.

“So what they were looking for with those were, I think, from my military friend, Tom, Waypoints, where the creek, where the fords were, I mean, that was the most important things for those maps, where they could cross the major rivers at, or were strategic locations looking for mills, that early map that I said had 30 mills on it,” Ketchie said. “So they would notice that, and that would be a strategic item possibly, you know, during that war for both sides.”

Maps played an important role in the early development of North Carolina, but not necessarily because of the routes and roadways they showed.

“Those would be county soil maps that were done between 1900 and 1920 by the state of North Carolina to promote our agriculture,” Ketchie said.

In order to attract more people and business to North Carolina, the state used maps to show potential farmers what good soil was available and where.

These older maps are a wonderful window into the history and growth in the state.

“So for historians doing research on their family and they can’t find the town that their grandfather or grandma was born in, it might have changed names or it might have gone away,” Ketchie said. “A lot of towns have gone away. When the post office went through their cleaning period, 1903 was one, a lot of communities disappeared because that was their only mark on the map was a post office, basically.”

When you look at early maps of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, it makes you appreciate just how much the city and county have grown over the years.

“The earliest map from the Spratt collection is 1872,” Ketchie said. “And that’s the William Springs property that went from Providence, Providence Road to Providence, Sharon Amity.”

And a fun fact, Ketchie said most of these early maps were drawn by members of one family.

“Now the Spratts were the official county surveyors in Mecklenburg County from around 1920 up until 1970 when they got rid of the position of official county surveyor,” Ketchie said.

One other aspect beyond what the maps show, and they certainly show a lot, is simply the fact that they are works of art.

“The ones in the 20s, or I mean, they were done on a starched linen paper, which is a unique paper. And these things are 100 years old,” Ketchie said. “It looks like they were done yesterday. So the craftsmanship, you know, some of them have a million lines meeting, and there’s not one. These are hand-drawn maps.”

Ketchie is now in the process of digitizing all those maps and indexing each little nook and cranny on them.

It’s a huge project, but a labor of love for Ketchie, who majored in geography in college.

He’s a printer by trade, and all this map stuff is actually a hobby for him.

Copyright 2025 WBTV. All rights reserved.

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. (WBTV) – President Donald Trump is coming to North Carolina on Friday.

Trump will give remarks around 9 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 19, at the Rocky Mount Events Center along Northeast Main Street in Rocky Mount.

–> Also read: North Carolina bar continues selling Sycamore beer, but condemns child rape allegations against co-owner

Republican U.S. Senate Candidate Michael Whatley confirmed Trump’s visit, though it wasn’t immediately clear what the President would be discussing.

Guest registration for the President’s visit can be accessed at this link.

Copyright 2025 WBTV. All rights reserved.

ROCKY MOUNT, N.C. (AP) — She had worked 22 days straight in her job as a technician at an engine plant to save up, and now Daijah Bryant could finally do what she was putting off: Christmas shopping.

Bryant pushed her cart out of a Walmart in Rocky Mount, North Carolina, and loaded her sedan’s backseat with bags of gifts. While they would soon bring joy to her friends and family, it was difficult for the 26-year-old to feel good about the purchases.

“Having to pay bills, if you happen to pay rent and try to do Christmas all at the same time, it is very, very hard,” she said with exasperation.

Ahead of President Donald Trump’s Friday evening visit to Rocky Mount, some residents say they are feeling an economic squeeze that seems hard to escape. The uneasy feeling spans political affiliation in the town, which is split between two largely rural and somewhat impoverished counties, although some were more hopeful than others that there are signs of reprieve on the horizon.

This will be Trump’s second event this month aimed at championing his economic policies ahead of a consequential midterm election next year, both held in presidential battleground states. Similar to Trump’s earlier stop in Pennsylvania, Rocky Mount sits in a U.S. House district that has been historically competitive. But earlier this year, the Republican-controlled legislature redrew the boundaries for the eastern North Carolina district to favor their party as part of Trump’s push to have GOP-led states gerrymander their congressional districts to help his party retain its House majority for the last half of his term.

Rocky Mount may be in a politically advantageous location, but the hardships its residents report mirror the tightening financial strains many Americans say they are feeling, with high prices for groceries, housing and utilities among their top concerns. Polls show persistently high prices have put Americans in a grumpy mood about the state of the economy, which a large majority say is performing poorly.

Trump has insisted the economy is trending upward and the country will see some relief in the new year and beyond. In some cases, he has dismissed affordability concerns and encouraged Americans to decrease their consumption.

‘Without the businesses, it’s dead’

Crimson smokestacks tower over parts of downtown Rocky Mount, reminding the town’s roughly 54,000 residents of its roots as a once-booming tobacco market. Through the heart of downtown, graffiti-covered trains still lug along on the railroad tracks that made Rocky Mount a bustling locomotive hotspot in the last century.

Those days seem long gone for some residents who have watched the town change over decades. Rocky Mount has adapted by tapping into other industries such as manufacturing and biopharmaceuticals, but it’s also had to endure its fair share of challenges. Most recently, financial troubles in the city’s government have meant higher utility prices for residents.

The city has been investing to try to revitalize its downtown, but progress has been slow. Long stretches of empty storefronts that once contained restaurants, furniture shops and drug stores line the streets. Most stores were closed Thursday morning, and not much foot traffic roamed the area.

That’s left Lucy Slep, who co-owns The Miner’s Emporium jewelry store with her husband, waiting for Trump’s promised “Golden Age of America.”

The jewelry store has been in downtown Rocky Mount for nearly four decades, just about as long as the 64-year-old said she has lived in the area. But the deterioration of downtown Rocky Mount has spanned at least a decade, and Slep said she’s still hoping it will come back to life.

“Every downtown in every little town is beautiful,” she said. “But without the businesses, it’s dead.”

Slep’s store hasn’t escaped the challenges other Rocky Mount small businesses have endured. Instead of buying, more people have recently been selling their jewelry to the shop, Slep said.

Customers have been scarce. About a week out from Christmas, the store — with handmade molded walls and ceilings resembling cave walls — sat empty aside from the rows of glass cases containing jewelry. It’s been hard, Slep said, but she and her husband are trying to make it through.

“This year is just not a jewelry Christmas, for whatever reason,” she said.

Better times on the horizon — depending on whom you ask

Slep is already looking ahead to next year for better times. She is confident that Trump’s economic policies — including upcoming tax cuts — will make a marked difference in people’s cost of living. In her eyes, the financial strains people are feeling are residual effects from the Biden administration that eventually will fade.

Optimism about what’s to come under Trump’s economy might also depend on whether residents feel their economic conditions have changed drastically in the past year. Shiva Mrain, an engineer in Rocky Mount, said his family’s situation has not “become worse nor better.” He’s been encouraged by seeing lower gas prices.

Bryant, the engine technician, feels a bit more disillusioned.

She didn’t vote in the last election because she didn’t think either party could enact changes that would improve her life. Nearly a year into the Trump administration, Bryant is still waiting to see whether the president will deliver.

“I can’t really say … that change is coming,” she said. “I don’t think anything is going to change.”

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